Former youth minister sentenced to 3 years

CHESTERFIELD, Va. (AP) — A former youth minister in Chesterfield County has been sentenced to three years in prison on sex charges.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/1pQOZ0E ) that 53-year old Troy A. Mitten was sentenced Thursday in Chesterfield Circuit Court. The sentence was 10 years, with seven suspended.

Mitten entered an Alford plea in March to taking indecent liberties with two teenage girls in the 1990s. An Alford plea acknowledges the state has sufficient evidence to prosecute but isn’t an admission of guilt.

The victims were parishioners of the now-defunct Trinity Assembly of God, where Mitten served as youth minister. The women, now 32 and 35, testified Thursday that they once viewed Mitten as a father figure. They said the sexual contact began after Mitten gained their trust and affection.